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JKF 1680 Red Dial Sub Relume

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
824
501
0
I’m thoroughly enjoying the dial on this JKF 1680 Red Dial Sub - the crown, font, and alignments are all close enough to pass, particularly on the wrist. But what’s been bothering me is the lume. It’s very, very flat.

I decided to learn how to relume a dial and hands. I needed a handful of things to get it done:

Tutorial on luming:

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f6/watch-luminizing-tutorial-673983.html

Lume:

www.noctilumina.com

I contacted Scott at Noctilume for recommendations on mixing a high-glow, “vintage” lume. He was very helpful! Recommended I mix his G15F with AG40F to get a light-yellow appearance but high-glow output. I ended up buying my binder, pigment, oilers, and mixing bowl from him.

Tools:

- Set of Oilers (fine and medium used most)

- Ceramic mixing bowl

- Ag40F pigment

- G15F pigment

- Binder 3

- 3x Loupe

- Paint Thinner

- Xacto Knife

Practice:

I used images of 1680 dials, printed and lacquered (to scale) as practice runs. This worked very well for me. I got used to working under the loupe, mixing, and applying lume.

In the end I think it turned out quite nice. Clean edges, nice pillowing, and good color consistency.

After it cures for 72hrs I’ll reassemble and get back to wearing this.

Thanks for looking!

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ADINVA

You're Saying I Can Sell?
19/5/18
80
18
8
Is JKF 1680 significantly better than BP 1680? Any thoughts? Did you have to remodel the JKF case too? Great relume job, by the way!
 

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
824
501
0
I cannot speak about the BP 1680 from personal experience only looking at pics online - I originally ordered that one but the BP Factory got shutdown as soon as I ordered so there was no stock. I switched to the JK 1680 and I’m happy I did.
I never liked the dial, logo, or lume on the BP version.
In terms of case mods, I only drilled the lugs to fit gen spec spring bars. Otherwise I left the case as is on my JK.
I did refit the crystal and retaining ring with a thin bead of epoxy to increase the water resistance. I bent the bezel spring to tighten the bezel rotation. And re-lubricated the gaskets.
The case tested to 5atm.
 

ADINVA

You're Saying I Can Sell?
19/5/18
80
18
8
I cannot speak about the BP 1680 from personal experience only looking at pics online - I originally ordered that one but the BP Factory got shutdown as soon as I ordered so there was no stock. I switched to the JK 1680 and I’m happy I did.
I never liked the dial, logo, or lume on the BP version.
In terms of case mods, I only drilled the lugs to fit gen spec spring bars. Otherwise I left the case as is on my JK.
I did refit the crystal and retaining ring with a thin bead of epoxy to increase the water resistance. I bent the bezel spring to tighten the bezel rotation. And re-lubricated the gaskets.
The case tested to 5atm.


May I ask, are the hour plots on the JKF dial dot markers? If these are dot markers, do you just apply the lume on the dot markers to create this great vintage look? Also, what is the size of the drill which you use to drill the lugs? Many thanks in advance for sharing.
 

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
824
501
0
The JKF dial does not use dial dot markers - I suspect, but don’t know for certain, they pad print a very, very thin, flat layer of lume on the indexes.
No reason to try to scratch that off on a new dial.
Use a 1.3mm HSS Cobalt drill bit (not a jobber), go slow, and use cutting oil with it.
Good luck and post your results!
 

Prisoner6

Active Member
DO NOT TRADE WITH ME
16/3/18
387
42
28
United Kingdom
Hi guys what should I do to this 1680 to make it better
I have fitted a gen Plexiglas and tube and crown, drilled the lugs to take gen Springbars put better 570 endlinks on the very nice bracelet
So now what next ?
813e411609619ef67899a0065aafddbc.jpg
6e55e2edfde71da0126fcd4b1e7f157d.jpg
 

ADINVA

You're Saying I Can Sell?
19/5/18
80
18
8
The JKF dial does not use dial dot markers - I suspect, but don’t know for certain, they pad print a very, very thin, flat layer of lume on the indexes.
No reason to try to scratch that off on a new dial.
Use a 1.3mm HSS Cobalt drill bit (not a jobber), go slow, and use cutting oil with it.
Good luck and post your results!

Thank you so much for sharing! This is extremely helpful. I am researching what are the differences between JKF and BP Subs. Your suggestions have confirmed my understanding. Will be ordering JKF. Many thanks once again!
 

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
824
501
0
Hi guys what should I do to this 1680 to make it better
I have fitted a gen Plexiglas and tube and crown, drilled the lugs to take gen Springbars put better 570 endlinks on the very nice bracelet
So now what next ?
What was your experience with fitting the gen crystal? I guess first question is what is the base model you’re working with? I’m inclined to replace the crystal too.
 

Prisoner6

Active Member
DO NOT TRADE WITH ME
16/3/18
387
42
28
United Kingdom
What was your experience with fitting the gen crystal? I guess first question is what is the base model you’re working with? I’m inclined to replace the crystal too.
It's a JKF case and it was so simple after removing the bezel then the retaining ring carefully pry the old Plexiglas off then place the new Plexiglas onto the case and line up the Cyclops with the date and thenput the retaining ring back on and with a press (see photo) push the ring down onto the case and then reinstall the bezel and that's that
fe1879ac1191baf96d44134c1275614f.jpg
 

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
824
501
0
It's a JKF case and it was so simple after removing the bezel then the retaining ring carefully pry the old Plexiglas off then place the new Plexiglas onto the case and line up the Cyclops with the date and thenput the retaining ring back on and with a press (see photo) push the ring down onto the case and then reinstall the bezel and that's that
fe1879ac1191baf96d44134c1275614f.jpg

Was the Plexi a tight fit? Did you need any gaskets between the crystal and rehaut? Or crystal and retaining ring?
 

Prisoner6

Active Member
DO NOT TRADE WITH ME
16/3/18
387
42
28
United Kingdom
Was the Plexi a tight fit? Did you need any gaskets between the crystal and rehaut? Or crystal and retaining ring?
The Plexiglas is a tight fit and then the retaining ring made it even tighter after I did it I had it pressure tested and it passed ok
 

hanski

Renowned Member
25/4/18
824
501
0
How does my dial look to you ?

I'll qualify my response with this, I'm pretty darn new to this. Others on this forum are far better at picking out genuine, flaws, tells, or inaccuracies.

Generally speaking, I like the JKF dials. As a basic, affordable dial it looks pretty good. On the wrist, there aren't obvious tells IMO (again, I'm not a Rolex connoisseur). But when I look closer at the dial and compare with a site like this: http://www.drsd.com/watch-info/red-sub/redsub.html
I can start to see the inconsistencies...
- The RED text is similar to Mark I or Mark V
- The RED text is very dark red and without any white showing through
- The spacing of the text below is closest to Mark VI but still too tight to be a real Mark VI
- The crown logo looks like Mark V or Mark VI
- The lume is very, very flat
So all aspects of the dial don't create a consistent Mark I, II, III, IV, V, or VI.

All that said, I think your dial looks good! I think it would look better re-lumed but that is my opinion. What you think matters the most. How do you like it?
 

Prisoner6

Active Member
DO NOT TRADE WITH ME
16/3/18
387
42
28
United Kingdom
I like everything about the watch except the flatness of the dial and yes it needs character with a re-lume like yours then to me it would look great but I do not know anyone to do the re-lume
 

Tschacko

Active Member
Supporter
1/8/18
484
184
43
hanski Would you mind reuploading your pictures ? I am searching for a great relume tutorial and I think it might me this :D Thanks man !